Digital Cameras Under £150

In the digital cameras priced between £100 and £150 bracket you start to see a lot of choice in the cameras available. It includes some pocket cameras that offer that bit better all round quality than the cheaper models both in terms of picture and build quality. You can also buy robust models that are waterproof, shockproof and freezeproof. So you have a lot more choice in this bracket than with cheaper models. There are touch screen models and you should be able to find cameras with some extra zoom too.

The biggest difference when you pay a little extra comes when you use a digital camera in tougher conditions such as lowlight. Not every digital camera in this price range will give you great quality, but if you look around you should find a bit of extra class.

In this price bracket you will also find one or two models that are still available, but have been around for a while. This means they may not have all the latest features, but don't have that much missing and are available at a very reasonable price.

Canon Powershot A2400 IS

Type: Simple and Easy

16 Megapixels 5x Zoom

Guide Price: £104.90 Rating: 83/100

The Powershot A2400 IS is a standard point and shoot digital camera. It has a wide angle lens and Canon have built in image stabilisation. You are able to shoot High Definition movies. The LCD screen is 2.7 inches in size and for close up shots the macro mode is able to focus from 3cm away from your subject.

Nikon Coolpix S3300

Type: Ultra Compact

16 Megapixels 6x Zoom

Guide Price: £108.99 Rating: 81/100

The Coolpix S3300 is a relatively straightforward, pocket sized digital camera. Features include a wide angle lens, the ability to shoot High Definition movies and a 2.7 inch LCD screen. Nikon have equipped this camera with image stabilisation. For your close up shots the Coolpix S3300 is able to focus from 5cm away from your subject.

Panasonic DMC SZ1

Type: Extra Zoom

16 Megapixels 10x Zoom

Guide Price: £109.39 Rating: 84/100

The Lumix DMC SZ1 offers you plenty of scope for capturing a wide range of photo opportunities. It is a very compact size and is also easy to use. Features include High Definition movies, image stabilisation and a 3 inch LCD screen. For close up shots it is able to focus from 5cm away from your subject.

Olympus SH-21

Type: Extra Zoom

16 Megapixels 12.5x Zoom

Guide Price: £109.99

The SH-21 has a wide angle lens, can shoot Full 1080p High Definition movies and can produce 3D stills photographs. Olympus have equipped the camera with image stabilisation, plus a mode for increasing the detail showing in the darkest and lightest areas of your shots. The LCD screen is 3 inches in size and the battery can be charged via a USB terminal.

Olympus SZ-14

Type: Super Zoom

12 Megapixels 24x Zoom

Guide Price: £109.99 Rating: 78/100

The SZ-14 has a wide angle lens for capturing wide scenes in addition to its more obviously ability to zoom in on distant subjects. It is capable of shooting High Definition movies and can create 3D still photos. The LCD screen is 3 inches in size and the battery can be charged by attaching the camera to a USB port. Image stabilisation is available for both still photos and video recordings.

Panasonic DMC FS40

Type: Simple and Easy

14 Megapixels 5x Zoom

Guide Price: £109.99 Rating: 82/100

The Lumix DMC FS40 has a 2.7 inch LCD screen and is able to focus from 5cm away from your subject in macro mode. Key features include a wide angle lens, High Definition movies and image stabilisation. Panasonic provide software that makes it easy for you to upload your photos and movie clips to sites such as Facebook and YouTube.

Canon IXUS 150

Type:

16 Megapixels 8x Zoom

Guide Price: £109.99

The Canon IXUS 150 is a very straightforward, pocket sized digital camera. It has 16 megapixels and an 8x zoom lens.

There are a lot of very similar cameras around, so why would you buy the IXUS 150 ahead of other models? A couple of reasons that stand out are the build quality and picture quality. It also has an extra touch of style compared with other similar digital cameras. Although you can find cheaper pocket cameras the IXUS 150 offers fair value for money.

As mentioned above this camera is easy to use. You can use it in fully automatic mode where all you need to do is line up your shot and press the shutter button.

The 8x zoom lens gives you flexibility to zoom in on subjects while also being able to squeeze in wider scenes. If you need to boost the amount of zoom available you can activate Canon’s Zoom Plus feature to take the amount of zoom available up to 16x.

For shooting movie clips there is a High Definition Movie mode (720p). You also get a standard set of features for this type of camera. These include image stabilisation to help you produce sharp shots and white balance options if you want to fine tune the colours in your photos.

Fuji FinePix Z110

Type: Ultra Compact

14 Megapixels 5x Zoom

Guide Price: £119.82

The Finepix Z110 operates as a typical point and shoot digital camera. Features include a 2.7 inch LCD screen, High Definition movies, motion panoramas and a macro mode that can focus from 9cm. It has a face retouch mode for enhancing portrait shots and a night out mode to optimise how your how look in pubs and clubs.

Olympus VH-410

Type: Ultra Compact

16 Megapixels 5x Zoom

Guide Price: £119.99

The VH-410 is one of the cheaper touch controlled digital cameras. In terms of features it is a fairly basic camera. This helps to keep everything simple. Features include a 3 inch LCD screen, High Definition Movies and Image Stabilisation. The battery can be charged by connecting the camera to a computer USB port.

Fuji Finepix T400

Type: Extra Zoom

16 Megapixels 10x Zoom

Guide Price: £122.99 Rating: 81/100

The Finepix T400 is a point and shoot digital camera with some extra zoom power. It has 10x zoom, a wide angle lens, a macro mode capable of capturing shots from 3cm away from your subject and image stabilisation. The LCD screen is 3 inches in size. It also has a smile shutter and a blink warning. It is available black, blue, pink, purple and silver.

Canon IXUS 145

Type:

16 Megapixels 8x Zoom

Guide Price: £128.26

The Canon IXUS 145 is a simple point and shoot digital camera. In addition to how easy it is to operate it looks impressive, with a touch more style than most entry level digital cameras. If you compare the IXUS 145 to similar models from other brands you may also notice this camera has a very good build quality.

At 22mm wide the IXUS 145 slips easily into more or less any pocket or small bag. You can take it with you anywhere you go and always be ready when a photo opportunity arises.

With 16 megapixels you have more than enough to make extra large sized prints. The 8x zoom lens is about standard for this type of digital camera. This is an area where a small camera outperforms most smart phones, both in terms of the amount of zoom available and the quality of the lens. The quality of the lens helps to produce sharp, colourful photos.

There is a 2.7 inch LCD screen for composing and reviewing images. You can also shoot High Definition Movies (720p). If you need extra zoom from time to time, Canon have equipped the camera with a feature called Zoom Plus. This can double the zoom capabilities of the camera to give you 16x zoom.

Sony DSC WX50

Type: Ultra Compact

16 Megapixels 5x Zoom

Guide Price: £129.79

The Cybershot DSC WX50 has plenty of features to get your teeth into. These include 3D photography, High Definition movies, sweep panoramas and a 2.7 inch LCD screen. There is a high speed burst mode capable of taking shots at a rate of 10 frames per second. In addition there is a feature that throws the background of your shots out of focus to highlight your main subject.

Nikon Coolpix S01

Type: Ultra Compact

10 Megapixels 3x Zoom

Guide Price: £132.98

The Coolpix S01 is one of the smallest digital cameras you can find. The body is made of stainless steel. Features include a 2.5 inch LCD screen and a macro mode that can focus from 5cm away from your subject. The LCD screen gives you touch control. The Coolpix S01 can shoot High Definition Movies.

Canon Powershot S200

Type:

10 Megapixels 5x Zoom

Guide Price: £136.00

The Canon Powershot S200 is a great choice for anyone looking for a wide range of features in a pocket sized digital camera.

The Powershot S200 has 10 megapixels and a 5x optical zoom lens. The lens has two specific features that can help you to take better photos. The first is the 24mm minimum focal length of the lens. This enables you to squeeze wide scenes into your shots. You will really appreciate this if you plan to take a lot of landscape shots or you plan to photograph groups of people.

The other impressive lens feature is the maximum f/2 aperture. This allows more light into the camera than most lenses do. The advantage of this is that you can produce sharper photos when the light is not so good. For example, at dusk or when you are taking photos indoors.

Canon have built intelligent IS into the Powershot S200. This also helps to keep your photos pin sharp. The addition of Wi-Fi makes it easy for you to share your photos to your smart phone or tablet.

Other features include HD Movies, a 3 inch, high quality LCD screen and a range of manual and semi-automatic exposure features. A lens control ring gives you easy access to setting aperture, shutter speed and focusing.

Fuji Finepix S2980

Type: Extra Zoom

14 Megapixels 18x Zoom

Guide Price: £139.88

The Finepix S2980 has a set of manual exposure controls including shutter priority and aperture priority. It is capable of shooting High Definition Movies. For close up shots there is a super macro mode that can focus from 2cm away from your subject. It has a 3 inch LCD screen, plus the option of using and electronic viewfinder for framing your photos. Power comes from a set of AA batteries.

Sony DSC W610

Type: Simple and Easy

14 Megapixels 5x Zoom

Guide Price: £143.32 Rating: 72/100

The Cybershot DSC W610 is a straightforward, pocket sized digital camera. It has a basic set of features. These include a wide angle lens, a 2.7 inch LCD screen and a macro mode that allows you to focus from 4cm away from your subject for close up shots. A sweep panorama mode is available too. This can produce 360 degree panoramic shots.

Nikon Coolpix S6300

Type: Extra Zoom

16 Megapixels 10x Zoom

Guide Price: £147.00 Rating: 79/100

The Coolpix S6300 is a relatively small camera considering the amount of zoom on offer. Key features include a 2.7 inch LCD screen, High Definition movies with stereo sound and 3D photography. You can also create 180 degree and 360 degree panoramic images. Nikon have also built image stabilisation into the Coolpix S6300.

Panasonic DMC FX90

Type: Ultra Compact

12 Megapixels 5x Zoom

Guide Price: £149.98 Rating: 79/100

The Lumix DMC FX90 has a couple of features that are not readily available on all digital cameras. These are the ability to send images to a computer using Wi-Fi and the ability to shoot 3D still images. In addition you change settings and controls using a 3 inch touch sensitive LCD screen. The 5x zoom lens has wide angle capabilities and includes a feature that gives you access to up to 9.8x zoom if you reduce the number of megapixels you are shooting at. For movies there is a High Definition movie mode.

Panasonic DMC SZ5

Type: Extra Zoom

14 Megapixels 10x Zoom

Guide Price: £149.99

The Lumix DMC SZ5 is one of the first digital cameras to offer compatibility with smartphones. This camera can be controlled using a smartphone to set focus, zoom in and take a picture. It also has Wi-Fi connectivity. This allows the camera to be wirelessly connected to smartphones, computers and televisions. More standard features include a 3 inch LCD screen, High Definition Movies, a 5cm macro mode and Image Stabilisation.